Doc Yoder's Notes
King Lear by William Shakespeare (written 1604? between Othello and Macbeth; performed at court December 1605)

Act I

I.i: Kent and Gloucester discuss why Lear is dividing his kingdom equally among his daughters (and their husbands) instead of giving more to Albany (and Goneril) whom he likes more; the "who loves daddy most" contest; Cordelia refuses to play the game, so "nothing will come of nothing" (I.i.90); Kent speaks up for Cordelia and is banished; Lear divides Cordelia's third between her sisters, and France takes Cordelia even though she has no dowery; even Goneril and Regan know Lear is wrong

I.ii: Edmund sets the trap for Edgar with Gloucester; Edgar is bitter about the social standards of age and legitimacy; he toys with Edgar even while warning him that Gloucester is after him; Edmund is playing the "credulous father" against the "brother noble" (I.ii.175)

I.iii: at Goneril and Albany's castle; apparently some time has passed and Goneril is already tired of having Lear around; she instructs the servants to disrespect him

I.iv: at Goneril's castle: Kent is in disguise; Lear is impatient for dinner; Kent befriends Lear; Lear and his knights are being disrespected by Oswald and the other servants; Goneril refuses to meet with Lear; Oswald and Kent squabble; Lear, his fool and Kent bandy words -- including "nothing" (125-131; 188) -- until Lear himself is the fool (145ff.); Goneril finally shows up and tells Lear that his entourage is causing too much trouble, his knights turning her house into a brothel (239); Lear realizes that by choosing folly over judgment, he has "like an engine, wrench'd my frame of nature / From its fixed place" (264-65); Lear says that he will go to Regan who will treat him with a father's due respect; Goneril sends Oswald to warn Regan

I.v: Lear sends Kent to Regan to let her know he's coming; Lear and the fool talk, Lear says he will "forget my nature" (30) and the fool says Lear "wouldst make a good fool" (35)

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Act II

II.i: with the news of discord between Albany (Goneril) and Cornwall (Regan), Edmund closes his trap on Edgar, wounding himself and blaming Edgar; reporting to Gloucester, Edmund attributes his own plot to Edgar; Gloucester, Cornwall and Regan all believe Edmund lies about Edgar; Gloucester allies with Regan and Cornwall

II.ii: Kent and Oswald both arrive at Regan's castle; they skirmish and Kent is put into stocks

II.iii: Edgar solus decides to disguise himself as a madman

II.iv: Lear finds Kent in stocks; he quarrels with Regan and Cornwall until Goneril and Albany arrive; they finally refuse to accept any entourage with Lear; Lear says, "I shall go mad!" (284); a storm comes up and Lear goes out into it; Gloucester is worried about Lear, but Cornwall and Regan lock Lear out in the storm

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Act III

III.i: Kent and Gentleman on the heath; Gentleman reports Lear's madness; Kent indicates trouble between Albany (w/ Goneril) and Cornwall (w/ Regan), and that France (w/ Cordelia) has returned in secret to England

III.ii: Lear and the Fool on the heath; Lear's madness; Kent finds them, urges them to retreat to a hovel; Lear's madness abates

III.iii: at Gloucester's castle, Gloucester entrusts Edmund with news of France's secret arrival and his own plans to help Lear; Edmund immediately intends to betray Gloucester

III.iv: In the hovel: Edgar is there Ð Kent in disguise, Fool, Lear in madness, Edgar feigning madness; Lear tears off his clothes to be like Edgar "unaccommodated man"; Lear assumes that Edgar's madness is also the result of bad daughters; Gloucester enters to rescue Lear, but Lear won't leave "mad" Edgar

III.v: at the castle: Edmund informs on Gloucester to Cornwall, who makes him Earl of Gloucester

III.vi: Gloucester gets the group back into the hovel, then leaves to find something to make them more comfortable; Lear begins a mock trial of Goneril and Regan; Edgar is moved by Lear's madness, which makes him feel that his woes are more tolerable; Gloucester comes with news of a plan to kill Lear, and sends Kent and the others off to meet up with Cordelia

III.vii: at the castle: Cornwall and Regan send Goneril to warn Albany of France's invasion; Gloucester is brought in; he invokes his role as host, but they tie him to a chair and pluck out his eyes; one servant tries to defend Gloucester, and wounds Cornwall but is killed himself; a pretty horrific scene

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Act IV

IV.i: Edgar's soliloquy on changes of fortune; Edgar meets Gloucester, led by an old man, and takes charge of him, promising to lead to Dover where Gloucester plans to throw himself off a cliff

IV.ii: Edmund and Goneril arrive at home, but are told by Oswald that Albany is siding with Lear and Cordelia; Goneril sends Edmund to warn Regan and Cornwall; Goneril and Edmund are planning to dispose of Albany so they can marry; Albany objects to Goneril's unnatural treatment of Lear; while they argue, a message arrives of Cornwall's death and Gloucester's blinding; Albany swears to avenge Gloucester, and Goneril begins to be jealous of Regan for Edmund's affection

IV.iii: Kent and the Gentleman in Dover: King of France has had to return; the Gentleman recounts Cordelia's reaction to Kent's letter about Lear's being cast out into the storm; Kent says that Lear is also in Dover but is too ashamed to see Cordelia

IV.iv: Cordelia consults with Doctor about how to treat Lear; Doctor recommends a sleeping potion; Cordelia receives word that "British powers [march] hitherward," and she says that she fights not for "blown ambition," but for love and her father's right

IV.v: Regan and Oswald (Goneril's steward): Oswald says that Albany has been persuaded/forced to prepare for battle by Goneril; Oswald has a letter from Goneril for Edmund, whom Regan believes has gone to kill his father; Regan tries to recruit Oswald in her suit for Edmund against Goneril, and says that whoever kills Gloucester will be rewarded

IV.vi: Edgar fools Gloucester into thinking that they are at the high cliffs, and Gloucester "jumps" and swoons; Edgar pretends to be a peasant, and witness to Gloucester's "fall," and he claims that he saw "some fiend" on the cliff with Gloucester just before he "jumped"; says that Gloucester's survival is "a miracle"; enter Lear dressed in wild flowers; slowly Gloucester recognizes his voice; Lear has 2 good speeches: 1) bitter on sexuality, esp. corrupt female sexuality; 2) on the "great image of authority: a dog's obeyed in office," and on the fact that only the poor have to pay for their crimes, for "Robes and furred gowns hide all"; Lear recognizes Gloucester, and removes his weeds and flowers; Cordelia's gentleman arrives to fetch Lear who thinks he's hunting and runs off followed by the Gentleman's attendants; Gentleman reports to Edgar that the enemy army is close; Gloucester repents his attempted suicide; Oswald arrives to try to kill Gloucester, but Edgar kills Oswald instead; Edgar reads Goneril's letter to Edmund (which Oswald was carrying), and learns of the plot against Albany

IV.vii: Cordelia wants Kent to take off his disguise, but he says that his plans require him to remain in disguise; they wake Lear, who at first thinks that he has died and that Cordelia is a heavenly spirit; Lear regains his senses, but he has forgotten his madness and his night on the heath; rumours that Kent and Edgar are in Germany, and that Edmund is now with Regan, and battle is near

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Act V

V.i:


V.ii: the battle (such as it is); Edgar reports it to Gloucester; Lear loses the battle; he and Cordelia are taken captive; Gloucester gets depressed; Edgar says that "ripeness is all"

V.iii:

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